


Pokemon: Legends of Hoenn (Alpha Sapphire)

by TheWriterTriad



Series: Pokemon Legends [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Alpha Sapphire version, Novelization of the games
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 06:29:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15551709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWriterTriad/pseuds/TheWriterTriad
Summary: Sapphire Rockwell isn't interested in her father's new job as a gym leader, nor is she interested in staying in Hoenn. With her trusted partner Shade, she only has one goal: to get back to her hometown of Goldenrod City. But with an organization bent on controlling Hoenn, two brats accusing her of being a thief, and an entire region looking for her, getting home won't be easy.





	1. Moving Day

**Author's Note:**

> Rebel started writing this fanfic before her death. Chapters 1-23 were written by Rebel, and all subsequent chapters will be written by Shads using her notes and outlines.

“It’s the big day! Come on! Get up! Time to get ready to leave!”

The girl angrily slammed her door shut, cutting off her mother’s cheerful voice. She hated this! Why on earth did she have to move from Goldenrod City out to the boonies? And to make matters worse, it wasn’t moving out to the boonies like her best friends Ethan, Kris, and Lyra did when the three of them went off to New Bark Town. No, she was being uprooted from her life and forced to go live in Littleroot Town, in the Hoenn Region of all places! Why on earth did she have to leave? She was thirteen years old, far older than most new trainers. Yet her mother had insisted that she stay at home, and not catch any new Pokémon. The only one she had was her trusted partner, a male Sneasel named Shade. Her mother had no idea that her often absent father had given her a Pokémon for her tenth birthday as Sapphire had kept Shade at the Pokemon Daycare that was just south of the city. The girl had been volunteering there for years since it provided a convenient excuse to visit her best friend. Besides, it was good experience for when Sapphire would leave home to start her Pokemon journey.

“Come on, Sapphire. You need to come and eat breakfast, and if I’m not mistaken, you wanted to go say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Gold before we left.”

Sapphire rolled her deep blue eyes and began to pull on her everyday clothes, which consisted of a jewel blue tank top, ripped black jean shorts, and a black jacket. She pulled on her blue, black, and white sneakers, tying the laces in a triple knot. The teen then tied her hair back with a mottled blue, black, and gray bandanna, before picking up her necklace. It was her other gift from her father, a simple silver chain with a chunk of sapphire hanging from it. If one looked at it from the right angle, they would see the greek letter alpha suspended in the delicate crystal. It was the only piece of jewelry she wore. Anything else was too girly for her.

Sighing, she realized that she wouldn’t be able to put this day off any longer. Resigning herself to her fate, the teenager forcefully opened her door and stormed down the steps. It took her longer than normal to reach the kitchen, but she didn’t care. Sapphire didn’t want to take the quicker route through the living room. She didn’t want to see all the cardboard boxes that had her clothes, her sketchbooks, and all her guides on raising Pokemon. She didn’t want to see all the reminders that soon the family would be leaving their house in Goldenrod city for good.

"Good morning, sweetie." Her mother said, attempting to be cheerful. Sapphire ignored her, and instead grabbed her breakfast. Silence descended on the kitchen as the girl ate. She then stood and walked out of the door. Her mother sighed. She knew that her daughter resented the coming move, but still was hoping that Sapphire would come to love Hoenn. Her dear husband, Norman, had already been there for a few months, and so far had nothing bad to say about it. In fact, he loved the place, and couldn’t wait for his family to come and join him.

Sapphire was a lot less enthusiastic. She had instantly started giving both her parents the silent treatment and instead started retreating even more and more to the Daycare that she volunteered at.

The woman sighed and went back to washing the breakfast dishes. She had to pack up the breakfast dishes and supervise Machoke Movers Inc as they loaded the boxes onto the moving truck, transport them to the Magnet Train, get on the train with her daughter, get off at Saffron City, transport everything to Vermillion City, hop on a boat to Slateport City, and load up a moving truck, and make the drive out to Littleroot Town. All before she went to bed tonight. Talk about hard work.

Now she just needed to make sure that Sapphire came back before it was time to leave.

* * *

 

"I hate this!" Sapphire fumed as she stormed towards the Daycare, startling a few Ditto that were lazing about in the tall grass. "Why do I have to leave? Just  because Pops got a new gig as a gym leader doesn’t mean that I have to be uprooted and moved to Hoenn of all places! Well, I’m not going to play along with this little game. Not if I can help it.”

She continued fuming all the way to the large wooden building. Even from this distance she could see the Pokémon playing in the enclosure, some battling each other, others eating their morning berries, and one pair of Sentret playing a game of tag.

Sapphire almost threw open the door to the Daycare. Instantly Shade dropped down from above the doorway, landing on its familiar perch on her shoulder. Sapphire smiled, feeling a little bit better. At least she would have her best friend by her side.

“Oh, Sapphire!” She looked up to see Mr. and Mrs. Gold standing in the doorway. “I was wondering if you were going to come before you left.”

“I wouldn’t leave Shade behind.” Sapphire replied. “Thank you for the opportunity to work here.”

“Thank you for helping us out. I hope you’ll come back and visit us sometime in the future.” Mr. Gold said. Mrs. Gold smiled.

“Yes, feel free to stop by anytime you’re in the area.” She added. “We enjoy having you around.”

“Hey, do you think that I could just stay here?” Sapphire wondered.

“You know we can’t do that.” It was the answer she had been expecting, but it still came as a disappointment to the girl.

‘Yeah, I know.” She sighed. “I’d better get back to the house before my mother panics and calls the police. Can I have Shade’s Pokeball, please?”

“Sure.” Mrs. Gold said as she handed over the high-tech device. “Make sure you take good of him.”

“I will.” Sapphire sighed. “I better get going. “Don’t do anything too strenuous.”

With that, their final goodbyes were said, and then Sapphire was on her merry way. Neither of the Daycare couple questioned her sudden, abrupt exit. They were used to Sapphire and her ways. She hated saying goodbye.

* * *

Sapphire sighed as she walked towards Goldenrod City. She didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t have any choice. There was perhaps maybe one way that she could get back to her beloved Johto, although she knew that it was risky, and her parents would hate her.

Although right now, she hated them too, so at least the feeling would be mutual.

“Oh, I was wondering where you were.” Her mother crushed her in a hug as soon as she stepped into the Magnet Train’s station. Sapphire rolled her eyes, silently hoping that Shade was alright inside his Pokeball. The mischievous Dark and Ice-type hated being trapped in there. “Come on, hurry up! The train will be leaving soon, and you don’t want to be left behind!”

“Actually, I do.” Sapphire muttered to herself as she let her mom push her through the crowd, up the steps, through the ticket check, and onto the train, where she sat the pair down in an almost full car. Sapphire groaned. Even though the train ride was only about an hour, she didn’t relish spending it with strangers that were trapped like Magikarps in a can.

Soon the announcement rang over the paging system, saying that they were about to depart for Saffron City in the Kanto Region, and thanking them for choosing to ride on the Magnet Train.

Then there was a slight lurch as the train began to move, levitating a full foot above the track. with nothing more than a quiet hum, it began to pick up speed, going faster and faster. Sapphire watched as it left Goldenrod City, the tall building shrinking as her home grew farther and farther away. She couldn’t help but let one tiny tear slip out of her eye as the magnificent skyline vanished, and the view from the windows became a blur of trees and sky. There was no turning back now. It had begun.

She was on her way to Hoenn.


	2. Littleroot Town

Sapphire groaned as the truck hit yet another bump in the road, another sure sign that they were in the middle of nowhere. The day had been a real whirlwind of activity; with the multiple truck rides, the high-speed boat rides, and the long trip from Slateport City to Littleroot Town. She had been drafted by her overzealous mother to ride in the moving van with all of the cardboard boxes. Thank goodness they were secured to the walls of the truck; otherwise she was sure that she would have been crushed by the mountains of boxes that surrounded her.

Sighing, she let Shade out of his Pokeball, the dark weasel appearing in a flash of light. Shade smirked before climbing onto a particularly large stack of boxes.

"Sneasel!" He said, relieved to be out of his Pokeball. Sapphire allowed a tiny smile to grace her face.

"I know we've only just arrived in Hoenn, but we're not staying here for long." Sapphire said. “I’m not going to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere in a region that’s nothing more than a bunch of islands! Besides, I’m tired of my overbearing mother with her attachment issues. I should have left on a Pokémon journey a long time ago. I think we ought to leave home and go back to Johto. What do you say? You with me?”

“Sneasel! Snea, snea sneasel!” Shade nodded, a grin crawling across his face. Sapphire smiled, before the truck lurched to a stop. Her eyes widened in panic.

“Shade, return!” She whispered as she recalled her partner. Shade groaned but allowed himself to be sucked back into the red and white Pokeball. Sapphire quickly shrank the ball down to its smaller size and shoved it in her pocket. Not a moment too soon, either, because suddenly the door opened, revealing two Machoke. They waited for her to climb down out of the trailer, before they began to unload boxes.

“Thanks so much for volunteering to ride in the moving truck!” Her mother cheerfully said as she dragged her daughter into the house and up the stairs. Sapphire snorted. Volunteering? Her mother had told her to ride in the moving truck. There was no volunteering that had taken place.

“Anyway, I suppose that you ought to unpack your things, and set the clock in your room to the correct time. Oh, and your father left your birthday present on your desk. I’m going to go supervise the movers. I love you, sweetie.”

“Yeah, love you too.” Sapphire said, before muttering, “Nice of Pops to wait until nine months after my birthday before he actually bothered to give me something." The girl sighed and waited until her mother was out of her room before she shut the door and locked it. She then released Shade into her new room.

“Okay, so here’s the plan.” She said in a hushed voice. “I’m going to unpack my stuff so my mother doesn’t suspect anything. But, I’m also going to pack a backpack with a few spare changes of clothes, all of my life savings, and enough food to last a week. We’re going to hit the road, travel back to Slateport, and then hop on a boat back to Johto. We’ll be back home in under a week!”

Shade nodded, before his attention was drawn by a box on the desk, covered in shiny silver paper. No surprise, as Sneasel generally were thieves. But it did remind her of something else that her mother had said, that her father had left a (very late) birthday gift for her on her desk. She assumed that that was what the package was.

“Might as well open it up.” She muttered, reaching out to grab the package. She carefully pulled off the wrapping, folding it neatly and set it off to the side. If she was going to run away tonight, she could use it for kindling. She then opened the box, revealing a pair of running shoes, a letter, and a device in a packaging apparently called a Pokénav. She looked it over, and noted with interest that the device had a map of the region included on it. She figured that the shoes and the Pokénav would be useful, but she ignored her father’s letter.

“Thanks a lot, Pops.” She muttered as she put the running shoes by her bed and packed up the money, five changes of clothes, the Pokénav, and Shade’s Pokéball in her black, gray, and sapphire blue backpack. They joined some berries and apricorns she had picked in the days before her departure from Johto. Now she just needed to sneak some food that night on her way out, and she’d be fine.

That night, she laid awake while her mother fell asleep. She knew that her mother wouldn’t wake, as she was a heavy sleeper and was not easily roused. When she was certain that her mother would be unaware of her actions, she silently got up from her bed. She changed out of her pajamas and into a fresh set of clothes and the running shoes her father had gifted her, quickly scrawled a note for her mother, and left it on the desk next to the still unopened letter from the man who was a father in name alone. Carefully she slipped down the stairs and into the kitchen, mindful of her mother’s snores that echoed through the house.

She ignored the fridge, and instead raided the pantry, pulling out non-perishables such as crackers, dried meats, dried berries, and nuts, made several peanut butter sandwiches, and filled up four bottles of water at the sink. Slipping all of them into her backpack, she found she had just enough room for the Pokéballs and potions she had covertly purchased in the days leading up to her departure from Goldenrod City.

It was a struggle to close the zipper, but close it she did. Then, without making a sound, she eased the door open and stealthily crept out of the house, closing and locking the door behind her. All this time her mother had yet to stir.

Sapphire quickly hiked across the road and ducked down an alley. It wasn’t until her house was out of sight that she began to run, setting off at a brisk trot. Littleroot Town was by no means a large place, and within ten minutes of running she was at the start of Route 101. She smiled before calling out Shade, the dark weasel silently climbing up her shoulder. It understood the requirement of stealth at this point in time. His trainer smiled at him, before checking the map on her brand new Pokénav.

“Looks like it’s going to take us about two to three days walking time to get to Odale Town.” She whispered. “If we hurry, we can cover a good portion of it tonight. Let’s go!”

The woods were eerie to be sure, yet the foreign girl and Pokémon paid it no mind. They had nothing to worry about in terms of wild Pokémon, as all of the local fauna were safely tucked away in their nests. The lonely duo was the only ones awake at this point, save the few Poochyena that were out.

“I guess this place isn’t too bad.” Sapphire muttered as trainer and Pokémon scaled a sheer cliff face. "I still like Johto better, though. And it's too quiet. I miss the big city."

"Sneasel!" Shade quickly scampered up the rest of the cliff, his claws easily finding purchase on the rocks. Minutes later, Sapphire pulled herself up over the edge. She looked back down at the ground that was now ten feet below her. If she jumped, she would break her neck. She’d have to be careful as she continued. Breaking her neck was not high on her priority list.

“I think we’ve put enough distance between my mother and ourselves.” She announced to Shade. “Daybreak will be coming soon. Let’s find a place to sleep.”

* * *

 

All was silent in the large cavernous room. Three Pokemon were sleeping in their beds. One of them was a grassy green gecko, another a orangey red chick, and the third a blue mud fish Pokemon. They were, or course, Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip; the three Starter Pokemon that all young trainers got to choose between when they started their Pokemon journeys. 

What the three weren’t aware of, was the intruder in the lab. Dressed in dark blue, the group of three trainers was led by a tall woman of about 21 years, with flowing black hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. She smirked as she saw the three Pokemon sleeping.

  
“You know the plan.” She whispered. “Smash the Pokeballs and then capture them.” 

“Yes ma’am!” The two grunts replied before they began to stealthily sneak towards the Pokemon.

Mudkip’s fin twitched. before the blue Pokemon lazily opened one eye. 

He then yelped as he noticed that the unknown trio in the room. That yelp awakened his two companions, the young Pokemon startled to see that they weren’t the only ones in the room. For a moment, the three Pokemon stared at the three humans. 

Then Torchic and Treecko rushed forward, prepping peck and pound respectively. Both the grunts scattered, running throughout the lab as they tried to dodge the attacks. Mudkip was about to jump into the fray, when the leader walked toward the little blue Pokemon, a menacing grin on her face. Mudkip yelped again, all thoughts of fighting abandoned. The woman didn’t attack the water type right away, however. Instead, she reached out and grabbed Mudkip’s Pokeball.

Time stood still as the woman dropped it and crushed it beneath her feet, effectively releasing Mudkip against his will. The woman then grinned and pulled out another Pokeball, and the little blue Pokemon trembled. 

“If you two buffoons are done fooling around with those Pokemon, we have a job to do.” She sounded exasperated.

“Yes Miss Shelly!” The two echoed. Shelly, as the woman was now known, released a Mightyena into the room. Mudkip gasped as the Bite Pokemon growled. The dark wolf was certainly intimidating. 

“Use bite!” Shelly ordered. Her Pokemon obeyed, springing forward to clamp its jaws down on the inexperienced Mudkip. The tiny blue water type cried out in pain before trying to retaliate with a tackle attack. However, despite its best efforts, the attack merely bounced off of the dark type. Mudkip was shocked, before crying out in pain when Mightyena angrily tossed it out the window. The blue Pokemon went sailing into the doors, its location now unknown.

Shelly angrily recalled her Mightyena, resolving to punish it later, before the doors to the lab flew open.

“What’s going on?” Professor Birch demanded as he peered into the darkness. The good professor could only see blurry shapes, and he fumbled for the light switch. Shelly grimaced.

“Retreat!” She ordered before hopping out of the broken window, her two grunts following closely. They just made it, for at that moment the Professor turned the lights on. A blindingly bright radiance shown through the building, illuminating the scene in front of him. 

Professor Birch looked around, taking in the senseless destruction of his equipment and the injuries that both Torchic and Treecko had sustained. There were shards of a Pokeball on the floor, and the sinking feeling in his stomach only grew as he realized that Mudkip was missing.


	3. Route 101

That next morning, Sapphire’s mother, Rebecca Rockwell, woke up with a smile on her face. She was in Hoenn, the move finally done. She hoped her daughter had slept well. She knew that Sapphire had been unhappy about the move, but her mother was sure that soon enough Sapphire would fall in love with Hoenn. 

Speaking of Sapphire, she needed to wake her daughter up. They had plenty of work to do to get the house into working order. So without a care in the world, she ascended the stairs, ready to start the first day in their new house. 

She knocked on Sapphire’s door, listening for any noise or movement in response. Hearing none she opened the door, noticing that Sapphire wasn’t in her room. Maybe she was taking a shower? But there wasn’t a tiny bit of noise, and the door to the bathroom was wide open. 

“Sapphire, where are you?” Rebecca asked. No answer. Spying something on her daughter’s desk, she walked into the room. 

The first thing on the desk was the unopened letter from her husband. The second was a new piece of paper, a note scrawled on it in pen. 

_ Mom, I’m leaving. Don’t try and stop me; you can’t catch me, and you can’t change my mind. I hope you don’t hate me too much, but if you do, know that the feeling’s mutual. And tell that pathetic excuse of a father that I hate him too. _

_ PS: Don’t worry for my safety. I’ve got my Sneasel, Shade with me. That’s right, I actually have a Pokemon, know how to win a battle with him, and have actually survived being on my own before. No thanks to you, you’re way too overprotective.  _

_ PPSS: Goodbye forever! _

By the time she had finished reading the note, Rebecca had fainted.

* * *

 

“Mom’s probably found my note by now.” Sapphire muttered as she and Shade hiked through the dense forest. “We need to pick up the pace.”

“Snea, snea sneasel!” Shade agreed as the dark weasel scampered over another rock. It was about to continue when it suddenly stopped, looking into the underbrush. Sapphire frowned, also stilling in her motions. Something was coming, something that sounded very, very big. Trainer and Pokemon tensed, waiting for the arrival of whatever it was.

A few moments later, a Mudkip stumbled out of the bushes, collapsing on the ground. Sapphire gasped and hurried to its side, digging out one of her potions from the bag. 

“Shade, make sure no one comes near us.” She ordered as she began to treat the blue Pokemon’s wounds. Shade nodded before it adopted a defensive position, growling threats at the sky. Sapphire worked quickly, her mind racing. She had read a lot about Hoenn - not because she was interested in living here, but because she was planning to escape. One of the books she had read briefly mentioned starter Pokemon. She couldn’t recall the names of the Grass and Fire type starters, but this one was obviously a Mudkip. She had learned two important things from that article; that she thought that the little blue Pokemon was ridiculously adorable, and that they were exceedingly rare in the wild. 

The Mudkip had fallen asleep while she finished the treatment. She couldn’t just leave it there alone, so she grabbed one of her Pokeballs. Touching the ball to the Pokemon caused it to disappear inside in a burst of red light. She felt the ball tremble slightly in her hands a few times before a mechanic click was heard. Sapphire shrugged before shrinking it down and putting it in her pocket. At least she wasn’t stealing it from anybody. Her Pokeball wouldn’t work otherwise. 

She resolved to wait for it to wake up before asking it if it wanted to go on her journey with her. She was sure that a Mudkip would be useful, especially in Johto. 

It was much later when Sapphire stopped for her lunch. As she and Shade ate, she called out her new friend. The little blue Pokemon appeared in a flash of white light, sleepily gazing at its surroundings. It jumped when Sapphire placed a few berries in front of it.

“C’mon, eat up.” She said, trying smile kindly. “You need to keep your strength up if you want to get better.” 

Mudkip looked at her hesitantly. He was scared of this new girl, who reminded him so much of that woman named Shelly that had broken into his home the night before. But this girl was a lot younger, and had a kind but determined smile. 

Plus she was feeding him. That was always a bonus. Mudkip tentatively took a bite of the yellow fruit in front of him, surprised to find that he liked the taste.

“My name’s Sapphire.” Sapphire said to the little Pokemon. “The Sneasel is my partner, Shade. We’re traveling together. So, I take it you don’t have a trainer?”

Mudkip shook his head before scarfing down the last berry. He then looked around for more, disappointed to find that there were none.  Sapphire laughed, her smile shifting to an apologetic one.

“Sorry.” She said. “That’s all I have right now. You’ll have to wait for supper.”

Mudkip sighed before sitting down, regarding the human with a curious look. 

“So, I kind of caught you-” Mudkip’s jaw dropped, causing Sapphire to rush through to finish her sentence. “-but if you don’t want to travel around with me, that’s fine. I can release you right now.” 

Mudkip cocked its head to the side, studying the girl curiously. On one hand, this girl reminded him of that scary woman, Shelly. But on the other hand, he was supposed to be given to new a trainer and, as far as he could tell, she had to be pretty new - at least in Hoenn, anyway - for her to be this close to Littleroot Town. 

And she had food with her. In Mudkip’s book, a person that fed him was a wonderful person indeed.

That, more than anything else, helped cement his decision. The Mudkip nodded once, a bright smile on his face. 

Sapphire returned the smile with one of her own. She was relieved and; if she was being honest; quite happy that she had a new friend.

“Alright then.” She said. “You need a nickname. Hm…” She trailed off, lost in thought while Mudkip looked at her expectantly. “How about...Swampy?” 

Mudkip, or Swampy as he was now known, grinned. He liked this name, and he was beginning to like the mysterious Sapphire that was traveling with a Sneasel and gave him food. Sapphire’s smile grew a bit wider, before she stood up and held out her Pokeball.

“Okay then.” She said. “Let’s hit the road. Swampy, return!”

A red laser shot out of the ball and sucked Swampy back into the device. Sapphire grinned as she shrank the Pokeball down and put it in her pocket, resolving to buy a belt or wrist bands to store her Pokeball on when she reached Oldale Town. With that, she quickly picked up from lunch, called Shade to her side, and set off down the path. She still had a day’s walk to Oldale Town. Hopefully nothing more eventful would happen.


	4. VS Brendan and May

The next day was uneventful, save for the small attacks by wild Pokemon. Shade was enough to fight them off, and Sapphire continued on her way, unhindered, until she came to a large clearing. It was the perfect place to stop for lunch, and she did want to train Swampy a bit. 

As the three of them ate lunch - another peanut butter sandwich for her, a couple of raw eggs for Shade, and some more sitrus berries for Swampy - she told them the plan. They would remain here for the next hour or so. Shade would be free to do whatever he wanted, be it exploring the surrounding forest or battling the wild Pokemon, so long as he left his trainer and Swampy in peace and was back in an hour. Scarcely had she finished speaking when Shade nodded and had speedily disappeared into the surrounding trees. 

Sapphire sighed, a small smile on her face, before turning her attention to the little water type.

“So.” She said. “What attacks can you do?” 

Swampy thought for a moment before growling. Although he tried to be ferocious, he came across as cute instead. An amused smile briefly graced Sapphire’s face before it vanished. 

Swampy didn’t notice his trainer’s expression. He finished growling and then charge across the clearing, tackling a bush. Sapphire nodded once.

“So, Growl and Tackle.” She said aloud. “Is that all the moves you know?”

Swampy nodded once, worried his trainer was disappointed with him. However, Sapphire was busy planning.

“Okay, so a strategy for battle.” She suddenly said. “Would be for you to use Growl a few times to lower your opponent’s defense and then use Tackle. Even if they do manage to hit you with a few attacks, as long as they’re physical attacks the damage done by them will be reduced.” She looked over at Swampy, who was watching her attentively. “Let’s practice that, okay?” 

Swampy nodded before growling at a nearby bush. Sapphire waited a few moments before ordering a tackle attack. Swampy charged forward and tackled the bush, flattening the green plant to the ground. Sapphire grinned.

“Nice work.” She complemented her new Pokemon. “Again!”

They remained that way for a long time, much longer than the hour she had allotted originally. She kind of lost track of time, spending hour after hour having Mudkip practice its two attacks. So far, nothing too interesting, until her latest order resulted in something a bit more powerful than a normal Tackle. 

“Swampy! Use Tackle one last time!” She ordered. Swampy charged forward again, ready to tackle a very beaten down bush, when he twisted in midair and delivered a powerful slap to the ground, kicking up globs of mud. 

Sapphire was surprised, to say the least. She watched in mute shock as the mud covered the bush, weighing down the leafy bows until the weaker ones snapped and the stronger ones rested on the ground. Swampy landed, a very pleased look on his face.

“You just used Mud Slap, right?” Sapphire asked. Her Pokemon smiled, pleased to have surprised his trainer.  

“Mudkip!” he affirmed. Sapphire grinned. 

“Good job!” She said, complimenting her friend on a job well done. Swampy grinned proudly at the praise he had received. The little Pokemon was glad that it had made its trainer happy. 

“There you are, you thief!” 

The moment was broken by a loud angry cry. Sapphire stiffened before turning around. Standing at the edge of the clearing was a boy and a girl, both looked to be about the age of ten. The boy was the one to angrily yell at her, while the girl had a silent but furious look on her face. Sapphire frowned.

“Look kids, I’m no thief.” She said. “I’m merely-”

“Sure you aren’t!” The boy interrupted her. “You only stole that Mudkip there from our father’s lab! You good for nothing stinker! We had three new trainers supposed to be coming in today, and one of them was supposed to get that Mudkip! And now they won’t, because you had to steal it! We’re lucky enough that Dad had another trio to offer them! As it was, he’s down a whole set, because he couldn’t just give away the remaining two!” 

“I don’t know what lab you’re talking about.” Sapphire was struggling to stay calm, but this kid was really getting on her nerves. “I’m a traveling trainer who’s only been in the area for two days. As for Swampy here, he was a wild Pokemon when I caught him.” 

Swampy, all this time, had been watching the interaction with interest, and a bit of apprehension. He recognized the two newcomers. Brendan and May Birch, the twin children of Professor Birch. He had come from the lab that the two lived at, and he could recall many long hours spent with them. They were most certainly here to take him back to the lab. And while when Shelly’s Mightyena had tossed him out the window, all of his thoughts had revolved around returning to the lab; now he found that he had grown rather attached to his new trainer, and was reluctant to leave her. 

“Mudkip!”

Startled out of his thoughts, he became acutely aware that May had called him several times. Looking up, he noticed that Sapphire had stepped off to the side, looking into the trees, whistling a mournful tune. 

“That girl says that if you want to come back with us, she won’t stop you.” May explained before holding out a hand. “C’mon, let’s go back to the lab.” 

Swampy looked at the outstretched hand, then at Sapphire, then back at the outstretched hand once more. With a definitive air, he slapped the hand away with his tail before running over to Sapphire’s side. The girl had stopped her whistling, and a relieved look crossed her face as her friend jumped into her arms.

“Seems like Swampy’s chosen to stay with me.” She noted before turning to walk away. “Well, I’d better get going. See you around.” 

“Not so fast!” She paused as a Pokeball was hurled in front of her, a green gecko released from it in a flash of white light. She turned around in time to see another Pokemon released, this time an orange chic. She glanced up calmly to meet her assailant’s eyes.

“And just what is the meaning of this?” She asked. 

“You’ve obviously done something to Mudkip.” The boy snarled. “If he won’t come back willingly, then the two of us will show him sense! Treecko! Use Pound!”

“Torchic! Peck!” The girl added. Sapphire filed away the names of Pokemon for further use as she jumped backwards, dodging the two attacks. Swampy lept out of her arms and landed on the ground, growling at the two Pokemon.

“You want to give it a go?” Sapphire asked. When Swampy nodded, she grinned. “Okay then. Use Mud Slap!” 

Swampy charged forward, striking the ground with its tail to send a rain of mud down on his opponents. Treecko was lucky, and dodged most of them, but three or four decent sized chunks hit Torchic, knocking it back.

“Torchic! No!” The girl cried. 

“May, Torchic is weak to Ground Type moves like Mud Slap.” The boy reminded her. May frowned as her Pokemon shook the mud off, although the little Fire Type looked a bit unsteady on its feet. 

“How was I supposed to know Mudkip knew that move, Brendan?” She whined. “Mudkip didn’t know it when he was at the lab!”

“Regardless, you need to be more careful!” Brendan lectured her. “Why don’t you recall Torchic? It’s taken a lot of damage, and Treecko has a type advantage over Mudkip anyway.”

A slight pout crossed May’s face, but she listened to her brother and recalled her Pokemon. Now it was just a one on one match, a fair battle. 

“Swampy! Use Growl!”

“Treecko! Pound attack, let’s go!” 

Swampy growled ferociously at Treecko as the gecko’s tail began to glow. The Grass Type then charged its friend, lashing out with its tail. Swampy dodged some of the blows, but two or three connected. The first one sent Swampy staggering back a few steps, but by the time the third hit Swampy was barely fazed.

“Now, use Tackle!” Sapphire ordered. Mudkip was the one to charge forward now, catching Treecko off guard. The attack landed successfully, hitting Treecko in just the right spot to cause extra damage. The critical hit, combined with the damage from the earlier Mud Slap, was enough to cause Treecko to faint. 

Brendan angrily recalled his fallen partner while Sapphire merely congratulated her Pokemon for the hard-fought win. She then told it to get some rest, before returning it to her Pokeball. 

“Next time be a bit wiser in the way you fight.” She advised the furious duo before turning to go.  

“Wait a second!” Brendan hollered while May tried to shush him. Sapphire ignored the boy, until she unexpectedly felt someone grab onto her from behind. Briefly she struggled, even as she heard Brendan yelling at her and May trying to pry her hot headed sibling off of her. But Sapphire ignored the angry words, and instead was searching the surrounding forest. There, in the trees, she could see Shade. Her partner was looking at her in equal parts worry and amusement. Sapphire rolled her eyes, a look that clearly said help flashing across her features. 

Shade charged up an Ice Beam and hurled it at Brendan’s feet, freezing them to the soil. The shock of the attack caused him to loosen his grip on Sapphire, and the girl slipped free. 

Shade dropped down to the ground between his trainer and her assailants, a cocky yet amused grin on his face.

“Sneasel!” He taunted. Both May and Brendan stopped what they were doing, shocked by the appearance of the rare Pokemon. 

“What kind of Pokemon is that?” Brendan asked aloud. He had never seen a Pokemon like that before, not in all of the texts on Pokemon native to the Hoenn Region that he had read. Sapphire didn’t bother to answer.

“Nice work, Shade.” She said before turning to vanish into the trees. 

“Wait! you never even told us your name!” May said. Sapphire paused, contemplating the question, but didn’t turn around. She couldn’t tell them her real name; the minute that they went back to Littleroot Town her mother would find out where she was. So, what to tell them? 

“It’s Alpha.” She said as she disappeared into the surrounding forest with Shade. “Do me a favor and remember it.” 

May and Brendan looked at each other, before Brendan angrily pulled his feet out of the rapidly melting ice. 

“I don’t know about you.” He said. “But tomorrow, I’m going to chase after her. I’m not going to let a thief get away with something as heinous as stealing a Pokemon. You with me, sis?”

“Yeah.” May agreed. She would follow her hot-headed brother, and not just because she also wanted to make Alpha pay for her crimes. She wanted a rematch, and next time she wasn’t going to get humiliated. “I’m with you.” Brendan grinned.

“We’re coming for you, Alpha!” He hollered in the direction that the girl had vanished. in. “Just you wait!” 


End file.
